Tag: RAW

WWE Confirms New Announce Teams For Raw And Friday Night SmackDown, WWE Premiere Week News

WWE has announced new commentary teams with some big changes for Raw and SmackDown.

According to WWE, the announce teams going forward are as follows:

RAW – Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin and Jerry Lawler

Friday Night SmackDown – Michael Cole and Corey Graves with Renee Young as a Special Contributor

WWE announced the following:

STAMFORD, Conn. – WWE Premiere Week ushers in an unprecedented era of coverage with special episodes of Monday Night Raw, NXT, Total Divas and the FOX debut of Friday Night SmackDown bringing fans eight hours of primetime programming.

As part of WWE Premiere Week, new voices will be brought to the Raw, NXT and SmackDown broadcasts. Raw’s new announce team will include play-by-play from Vic Joseph with Dio Maddin and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler serving as analysts; NXT play-by-play will be called by Mauro Ranallo with Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuiness as analysts; and SmackDown will feature Michael Cole handling play-by-play, Corey Graves serving as analyst and Renee Young as a Special Contributor.

Monday, September 30

The season premiere of Monday Night Raw airs at 8/7 C on USA Network as WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins defends his title against Rey Mysterio; The Miz hosts WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair on a special edition of Miz TV; Brock Lesnar makes a special appearance; AJ Styles defends his United States Title vs. Cedric Alexander; and Alexa Bliss takes on Sasha Banks.

Wednesday, October 2

NXT will make its two-hour live premiere this Wednesday, October 2, on USA Network at 8/7 C, as The Undisputed ERA defend their golden prophecy and the NXT Tag Team Championships in a match against the Street Profits. Also, NXT Champion Adam Cole defends his title against Matt Riddle; NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler takes on Candice LeRae; Johnny Gargano competes against Shane Thorne; and fans can witness “The Velveteen Dream Experience.”

Immediately following NXT, season nine of Total Divas will premiere on E! at 10/9 C. The hit series is back with a season more personal and action-packed than ever. WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey joins Natalya, Naomi and Nia Jax for the new season, which also includes returning cast member Carmella and newcomer Sonya Deville. Nikki Bella and Brie Bella will make guest appearances in the series as well.

Friday, October 4

SmackDown’s 20th anniversary will kick off the new era of Friday Night SmackDown’s highly-anticipated move to FOX broadcast network on Friday, October 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, when WWE Champion Kofi Kingston puts his title on the line against Brock Lesnar. The Four Horsewomen also square off as WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair team up against WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks in tag team competition. Later Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon look to finally settle their ongoing dispute in a high-stakes Ladder Match with the loser forced to leave WWE.

Prior to the premiere, the Friday Night SmackDown Kickoff Show “blue carpet” special will air at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on FOX from the Staples Center, featuring celebrity, Superstar and Legend arrivals, as well as backstage access.

Michael Cole’s return to SmackDown marks the end of a long run on Raw for “The Voice of WWE.” He first joined the Raw commentary team in 2008 and has remained there since. Before that he was the lead play-by-play man on SmackDown for nearly ten years.

Maddin recently made his debut on commentary during a recent edition of 205 Live.

The NXT announce team will reportedly stay the same for now. No word at this point on where Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton will be utilized in the future.

Lawler will likely only be used for a short period of time on Raw. Other people are reportedly being looked at for the spot on a full-time basis. This could explain why Mickie James was featured on commentary this week during Main Event, but we’ve been unable to verify this.

As we previously reported, Renee Young will now be hosting WWE Backstage Tuesday nights on FS1. Young is reportedly thrilled by the move since hosting is her passion and now she gets to do it on a giant platform every week. She echoed this sentiment via Twitter by sharing the new show announcement and calling it a dream come true.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

New WWE RAW Logo & Theme Song Revealed, Hulk Hogan & Ric Flair Announced For Next Week’s RAW

Last night on WWE RAW, an updated logo was revealed for next week’s season premiere, which you can see above.

A new song was also used which is called Legendary by the band Skillet.

Also it was announced that Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair will appear as guest of The Miz on Miz TV.

WWE RAW Preview 9/23/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Chase Center in San Francisco, California as the road to Hell In a Cell continues.

WWE Reportedly Bringing Back Pyro To TV Soon, New Entrance Stages

WWE will reportedly begin making significant changes to the look and feel of RAW and SmackDown next week.

WWE is set to bring back pyro to their weekly RAW and SmackDown TV shows next week, according to a new report from @Wrestlevotes. It was noted that fireworks will once again be a fixture on WWE programming, which comes after WWE reportedly cut back on expenses a few years ago.

It was reported over the weekend, via @Wrestlevotes, that this week is the final week that WWE will be using the current entrance stage. RAW and SmackDown are set to receive “updated, fresh feeling” sets next week. There will apparently be a new set for RAW and a different set for SmackDown.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Fan Arrested At RAW For Filming Police Officer And Other Individuals Urinating In The Bathroom

A WWE fan was arrested at Monday’s RAW after filming a Snapchat video of a police officer and other individuals urinating in the bathroom, according to WKYT in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tyler Bollinger was accused of recording video inside the bathroom of the Thompson-Boling Arena. An arrest report notes that other individuals were in the video, and that a man and his son flagged an officer down to report what had happened. Police questioned Bollinger and found the video in question. Bollinger admitted to having six adult beverages. Bollinger first denied the accusation but agreed to show police his phone. He later admitted to taking video of the officer and at least one other man while they were urinating.

The officer said he was working the WWE event and had went to use the restroom. He stated that when he left the restroom, he was stopped by a man and his young son, who told him that they saw a man recording people in the bathroom while urinating. The man pointed out Bollinger and that’s when police confronted him.

Bollinger was charged with disseminating unlawful photographs and public intoxication. He was due in court earlier this week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Big Change Rumored For The WWE RAW Announce Team

The WWE RAW announce team is set to undergo a major change soon, according to @Wrestlevotes.

The current plan as of this week is for Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin to call the action on RAW each Monday night.

We’ve noted how WWE will be focused on brand exclusivity coming out of the WWE Draft in October, and that includes the announce teams. It was reported last week that the plan was for Michael Cole to move to SmackDown from RAW while Joseph moved to RAW from 205 Live. It was also reported that Corey Graves was set to join Cole on SmackDown Friday nights, and that Graves will no longer be pulling double duty on two shows.

RAW is currently called by Cole, Graves and Renee Young. There’s no word yet on where Renee will end up, but she is expected to host the weekly WWE FS1 studio show on Tuesday nights, which will air live from Los Angeles. SmackDown is called by Graves, Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton, but there’s no word yet on what will happen to Tom and Byron. Joseph and Maddin currently call the 205 Live show with Aiden English. Maddin (WWE NXT Superstar Brennan Williams) was just brought up to 205 Live last week, replacing Nigel McGuinness, who will be going exclusive to NXT on Wednesday nights with Mauro Ranallo and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix.

Again, current plans have Cole and Graves on the SmackDown announce team together with Joseph and Maddin on the RAW announce team.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AOP Returned To WWE RAW In A Vignette And Issued A Strong Warning To The WWE Tag Team Division (Video)

Last night’s WWE RAW featured a new vignette with The Authors of Pain, Akam and Rezar, re-introducing themselves as they prepare to return to the storylines.

“My name is Rezar,” the promo began.

“My name is Akam,” he continued.

“Together we’re known as AOP, The Authors of Pain.”

“No one has seen us in a match since before WrestleMania.”

“There’s a very good reason for that. We haven’t had one match since before WrestleMania.”

“We’re fighters. We’ve been fighting our whole lives. We earn money by fighting.”

“That’s the problem. We come here to fight and everyone complains we’re hurting them in the ring.”

“Neither one of us could make a living in mixed martial arts because no one wanted to fight us and now we come to WWE and no one wants to fight us.”

“Every tag team in WWE is soft. None of you are men. None of you are hard enough to fight us.”

“None of you have the heart to fight us.”

“None of you have the manhood to step up to us.”

“This is a warning. You give us the opportunity we earned. Or we’ll take the opportunity we earned.”

“We are the future of the WWE tag team division.”

“And that future will be written in pain.”

AOP returned to live event action at a SmackDown show in early July, losing to the team of Ali and Matt Hardy. They had been away for several months while Akam recovered from a knee injury, but they returned to the ring at WWE Super ShowDown in June, to compete in the 50-Man Battle Royal. Rezar did work some WWE Main Event matches while Akam was out. It looks like AOP will no longer be working with 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick. It was reported in late August that WWE almost brought AOP back for a Tag Team Turmoil match, but it looks like they delayed the return for a slower build. There’s no word yet on when they will return to the RAW ring.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Rusev Returns To WWE Action

Following a brief hiatus from WWE TV, Rusev returned on Raw this week and got involved in the baby drama between Mike and Maria Kanellis.

Last night’s edition of RAW featured a gender reveal party that ended with an angry Maria telling Mike that Ricochet was the father of her baby. Frustrated over the revelation, Mike challenged Ricochet to a match … even though the former United States champ denied the accusation.

Ricochet picked up the win with ease and Maria scolded her husband for it afterward. She then said Ricochet obviously wasn’t the father, but teased revealing the father in that moment.

That’s when Rusev’s music hit and he made his way to the ring in tremendous shape with a new look. After a brief interaction in the ring, Rusev demolished Mike Kanellis.

Rusev’s last match in WWE took place back in June at Super ShowDown.

According to sources, Rusev was kept hidden backstage before and during RAW to keep the surprise return a secret. It’s unclear if he’ll eventually be re-paired with Lana, and her status in all of this was also questioned during RAW.

Below are the videos of what happened from last night’s RAW:

WWE RAW Preview 9/16/19 – King Of The Ring Finals

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee with the fallout from WWE Clash of Champions.

* The King approaches: King of the Ring Tournament Finals: Baron Corbin vs. Chad Gable

* Back on Boss Time? – Fallout from RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

* What will be the fallout from The Fiend’s ruthless assault on Rollins?

* Alexander the second? – Cedric going for AJ’s WWE United States Title after Clash loss?

WWE Draft Officially Announced

Reports began surfacing earlier this month of a WWE Draft taking place in October as SmackDown makes its way to FOX on Friday, October 4.

Earlier today, during the 1 pm ET NFL game on FOX it was announced the WWE Draft will begin on the October 11 episode of SmackDown and will then continue the following Monday (October 14) on RAW on the USA Network.

The 2019 WWE  Draft has been confirmed to begin on the October 11 SmackDown episode, then wrap on the October 14 RAW episode.

WWE has announced that Superstars will be appearing on RAW and SmackDown along with personalities from Fox and NBCUniversal programming, who will announce the picks.

WWE issued the following press release to us this afternoon to confirm the Draft:

WWE® DRAFT SET FOR FOX AND USA NETWORK ON OCTOBER 11 AND 14

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 15, 2019 – The destiny of WWE’s Superstars will be determined during a two-night draft taking place live on Friday Night SmackDown® on October 11 at 8 pm ET on the FOX broadcast network and Monday Night Raw® on October 14 at 8 pm ET on USA Network.

On both nights of the draft, Superstars from Raw and SmackDown will appear along with personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming who will announce select picks from each brand. The draft will determine the Superstars that compete for Raw and SmackDown, which feature distinct casts, unique storylines and dedicated writing teams.

Friday Night SmackDown on October 11 will emanate from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas while Monday Night Raw on October 14 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Raw and SmackDown are the #1 and #2 longest-running weekly episodic television shows in U.S. primetime history. The programs have aired more original episodes than The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.

Raw will continue airing on USA Network while SmackDown moves to FOX beginning Friday, October 4.